Film Details

My Neighbors The Yamadas

H˘hokekyo Tonari No Yamada-KunJapan |
1999 | Isao Takahata

In this charming animated feature, Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata breaks from his company’s tradition of mythic, larger-than-life stories to recount the everyday activities of an ordinary Japanese family—husband, wife, son, daughter, mother-in-law, and dog. He also departs from the studio’s detailed, saturated cel animation for a faster, more fluid, minimalist style inspired by comic strip sketches and pastel-colored watercolors. (It was the first Studio Ghibli feature created entirely on computers.) “If there’s an American analogy [to this film], it’s The Simpsons.” –Time Out Film Guide.